Reviewing your support strategies
Monitor and review strategies for children with additional needs. That means, observing as you go to see if they are working, and then evaluating them at a specific time later on.
Closely monitor new strategies and record how the child responds. You will need to keep a diary of your observations and any particular incidents.
The Cybertots procedure is:
- For the first few days of the support plan, briefly meet with your supervisor daily to ensure that you are on track and can solve any problems that arise.
- After that, meet with your supervisor weekly.
- Consult more often if there is a particular need (e.g. a critical incident, a change in the child's behaviour, a new kind of need becoming apparent, etc.) In these cases, keep records of the item of concern and what you decided to do about it.
Discuss with your supervisor the parameters of the child’s additional needs. How far does the issue go? What other things should you expect? Confirm what to expect.
You might need to adjust the amount of support you give, based on the child’s need and response. However, you should consult your supervisor before you make changes.
Levels of support required may vary between:
- Simply acknowledging the child’s efforts may be enough.
- Some children will need encouragement
- You might need to actively support the child ("scaffolding")
- You could redirect the child; get them to try different ways of coping.
- You might have to actively intervene in difficult situations.
You will have limitations to what you can do. You might find that you don’t have time to give other children adequate attention. You might find it highly stressful, especially if it is a long-term commitment or if the child is very difficult. Or you might find the child’s needs too complex for you to give suitable support. In any case, discuss your limitations with your supervisor, and get agreement on them.
Keep observing the child and put your observations in writing. As you go, take notice of any ways you could help the child with extra support and suggest them to your supervisor.
